Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Teardrop Cocktail Lounge - Portland - Oregon

After the first set of drinks at Clyde Common - Portland - Oregon, Gourmet Pigs and I took Wandering Chopsticks reader Dylan's suggestion and hit up Teardrop Cocktail Lounge for its old-fashioned cocktails and homemade bitters and tinctures.

The bar was pretty small, with some stools at the counter and along the wall. So we sat at the bar, overlooking the array of Teardrop Cocktail Lounge's homemade bitters and tinctures.

I love the descriptions and names of their cocktails. Naive Melody, Clear Creek pear brandy, Lustau East India sherry, lemon, apricot liqueur, Oregon wildflower honey, egg white, and bitters, $9. The beaten egg white is what gives the cocktail the foamy head. Such artful presentation. This tasted so good, and if I wasn't driving, I would have loved to have more than a sip.

Dylan recommended the Babaloo, Batavia Arrack, Smith & Cross rum, lime, Forbidden black rice horchata, and Boston bitters, $10. What makes black rice horchata forbidden? Unfortunately, we didn't find out because Teardrop makes its own horchata and it was all gone that day. Gourmet Pigs really wanted to try it too since Batavia Arrack is the "rum" of Indonesia, distilled from sugarcane and fermented with red rice. I know! Sounds even more intriguing now.

I also really wanted to try Last Gloaming (love the name!), Germain-Robin Fine Alambic brandy, Pineau de Charentes blanc, Yellow Chartreuse, Elisir M.P. Roux, and Peychaud's bitters, $10. I don't even know what any of those ingredients are, but it sure sounds good. Too bad I had to cut myself off.

Dylan ordered Unfinished Business, Martin Miller's Westbourne Strength gin, Cocchi Americano, Bonal gentian aperitif, Ricky's bitters, agave nectar, and absinthe, $10. I was too slow on the draw with my camera and missed the bartender pouring the absinthe over a spoon with a sugar cube on top. It was really cool.

I liked the old-fashioned glass.

By this point, further discussion of where to go for dinner ensued. We ended up heading across the river for one last round of cocktails at The Secret Society while we waited for a spot to open at Toro Bravo for Spanish tapas dinner.

When I get a chance, I definitely want to head back to Teardrop to try the cocktails I missed.

Wow, I am impressed--and I have Pineau de Charentes on my liquor shelf; it is a French aperitif that tastes very nice by itself. Americans really are kings of cocktail mixology, so cool that there were all those homemade tinctures. We have nice bars here in Amsterdam, even a few good cocktail bars, but I keep hoping it will become a raging trend...because a well-made cocktail is such a treat!

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